title: Midkine as a regulator of B cell survival in health and disease.
abstract: In healthy individuals, the pool of peripheral lymphocytes is constant in size. The control of lymphoid homeostasis is the result of a very fine balance between lymphocyte production, survival and proliferation. Survival factors have been shown to play a critical role in maintaining the correct size of lymphocyte populations. Midkine, a heparin-binding cytokine was recently shown to be involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis in various cell types including normal and malignant B cells. This review focuses on the role of midkine in the regulation of peripheral B cell survival in health and disease.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This article is part of a themed section on Midkine. To view the other articles in this section visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2014.171.issue-4.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Sivan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Idit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shachar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D000078792:Midkine; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D000078792:Midkine
keywords: B cells; BAFF; BCR; CD74; MIF; invariant chain; survival